When the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Chamber Singers earned one of 10 spots to compete in the biannual CantaRode International Choral Festival, Dr. William Plummer held high expectations for his students both as vocalists and ambassadors for the University and the United States. They did not disappoint him on either front.
“Our students met the moment with empathy and sensitivity to the culture of Belgium and the Netherlands,” said Plummer, the choir’s director. “They responded to competitor choirs, not as adversaries, but by seeking to build friendships.”
“I felt like they approached the competition with a lot of maturity and excellence during such highly visible and stressful situations with so much at stake.”
CantaRode, whose name is a combination of the Latin “canta,” or “singing,” and “Rode," an ancient name for the Dutch region, was established in 2014 and is an active showcase of vocal talent as part of The Choral Festival Network, a group of 26 worldwide choral competitions.
When CantaRode’s first round kicked off on May 30 in the Dutch town of Kerkrade, UL Lafayette’s team joined a diverse field of choirs from the U.S. and across Europe, ranging from professional chamber choirs like Sweden’s Stockholm Singers to youth choirs like Austria’s Tiroler Landesjugendchor. The University team placed fifth in the overall global competition and third among U.S. university choirs.
Preparations for the trip were exhaustive. The team submitted a program featuring songs spanning nine different languages. They practiced their rendition of “Ave Maria” in classrooms, local cathedrals and parking garages to prepare for the different acoustic spaces CantaRode would present. After arriving in Europe, team members continued to rehearse and refine their pieces, holding concert in spaces like Our Lady of the Pottery, a 13th-century Gothic church in Bruges, Belgium, in the week leading up to the competition.
The stress of preparation melted away, though, when the choir’s social media coordinator Brenley Murry and her friends ran into Jacksonville State’s A Capella Choir and began singing with them in the streets of Bruges on Jacksonville’s first day in the city.
“They came up, and they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are our competition,’ and we were like, ‘Oh my God, you guys are our competition,’” Murry said. “We hit it off so well right then and there.”
“Nobody felt super-competitive,” Murry said. “It didn’t feel cutthroat, at least in my observation. Everybody felt so kind to each other. It felt like a wonderful moment to bring music together and hear everybody.”
Luna Touchet, a music media major and member of the Chamber Singers, also attested to the unity they felt through the competition. “You can hear the difference between a choir that sings like they love each other and a choir that sings like they are just there because they like choir. I think that this is the most unified we’ve ever been,” Touchet said. “When we finished round one and round two, we were crying on stage because we were so happy.”
The return of post-graduate choir members enhanced the significance of CantaRode for the entire team. “We were honored to have four recent alumni reconnect with the University, adjust their work schedules, and enroll in the class in advance of our trip,” Plummer said. “They contributed a level of maturity, leadership and focus that was important to our success.
Both the UL Foundation Choral Activities Fund and the Student Government Association’s student arts fees were used to facilitate the trip. The majority of all students’ travel expenses were covered.
“Donations to the Choral Activities Fund are always welcome, and support is vital for these types of experiences to continue,” Plummer said.
Touchet said without this support, they would not have been able to attend the competition.
“I'd say it's really beautiful to see funding going to the arts,” UL Lafayette Choir President Caleb Dixon said. “For us to finally be able to afford to go on trips like these, it's really amazing.”
Photo caption: The UL Lafayette Chamber Singers perform at the CantaRode International Choral Festival. Photo courtesy of: Brenley Murry
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